Patriot Coal

Patriot Coal Corporation is a coal-mining company based in St. Louis, Missouri. Patriot Coal currently has mining complexes in the Appalachia and the Illinois Basin, and ships to domestic and international electric utilities, industrial users, and metallurgical coal customers. The company controls approximately 1.8 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves and sold more than 28.5 million tons of coal in 2008.

The company is a spin-off of most of the Eastern U.S.A. operations of Peabody Energy. Patriot is the largest producer of thermal and metallurgical coal in the Eastern United States. Approximately 80% of its coal is sold to domestic utilities and 20% is sold to domestic and international steel producers.

On July 23, 2008, Patriot acquired Magnum Coal Company for $709 million. At the time, Magnum was one of the largest coal producers in Appalachia, with 12 mines mines and 7 processing plants. Magnum had over 600 million tons of proven or probable coal reserves. Lehman Brothers acted as financial advisor to Patriot and Citibank acted as financial advisor to Magnum for the transaction.

Patriot Coal Mining Operations
Patriot Coal has mining operations in West Virginia and Kentucky, in the Appalachia and Illinois Basin respectively. Patriot operations in Appalachia sold approximately 20.6 million tons of metallurgical and steam coal during 2008 for customers in the United States and abroad. In July 2008, Patriot more than doubled its Appalachian production base through the purchase of Magnum Coal.

Patriot's Illinois Basin operations include three complexes that produced approximately 7.9 million tons of thermal coal in 2008, shipped primarily to electricity generators in the Midwestern United States and industrial customers for power generation

Appalachia/West Virginia Operations:
 * American Eagle Mine
 * Big Mountain 16 Mine
 * Blue Creek
 * Callisto Mine
 * Campbells Creek 7 Mine
 * Corridor G
 * Deskins Mine
 * Dodge Hill Mine
 * Federal No. 2 Mine
 * Guyan Mine
 * Harris 1 Mine
 * Hobet 21 Surface Mine
 * Kanawha Eagle Mine
 * Logan County Complex, formerly referred to as Apogee
 * Paint Creek
 * Panther Mine
 * Patriot Surface Mine
 * Rivers Edge Mine
 * Rocklick
 * Wells
 * Wildcat Surface Mine
 * Stockburg 2 Mine

Illinois Basin/Kentucky Operations:
 * Bluegrass mining complex
 * Dodge Hill mining complex
 * Freedom Mine (KY)
 * Highland mining complex, including the Highland 9 Mine

EPA's Mountaintop Removal Permit
On March 2, 2010 the EPA announced that it had granted a Clean Water Act permit for the Hobet 45 mine in Lincoln County, West Virginia after Hobet Mining LLC, a company owned by Patriot Coal, had agreed to additional "significant protections" against environmental impacts. The permit now must be approved by the Army Corps of Engineers. Additionally, the EPA said it extended the agency's talks with Mingo Logan Mining Co., owned by Arch Coal, in regard to environmental and water quality concerns about its Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County, West Virginia. Opponents of the permits, citing groundwater pollution from mountaintop removal projects stated that, “Enforceable minimum waste management requirements for dry disposal of coal ash in landfills should include siting restrictions, liners, groundwater monitoring, leachate collection, and financial assurance, closure requirements, post-closure care, and corrective action.”

Stay on proposed New Hill West Mine
In November 2010, West Virginia’s Environmental Quality Board temporarily blocked a water pollution permit for Patriot Mining Company’s New Hill West Mine in Monongalia County, West Virginia. Sierra Club lawyers sought the temporary stay because the company had planned to begin blasting in November, while a hearing on the group’s appear of the water pollution permit was not scheduled to begin until mid-December. The water permit in question already covers discharges from five previously approved surface mining permits, with Patriot Mining wanting to add another 225-acre operation that would discharge into Scotts Run of the Monongahela River drainage. The notice of appeal filed by the Sierra Club cites, among other things, what the Sierra Club says it the mine’s inability to meet the new water quality standards outlined in EPA’s major guidance document on conductivity.

Contact Information
Patriot Coal Corporation 12312 Olive Boulevard St. Louis, Missouri 63141 Phone: (314) 275-3600 Web: http://www.patriotcoal.com

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